The front room is where I teach piano lessons and has continually evolved over the last year. It started out with just a piano and a little chair for me. I quickly realized I needed some other things in that room to keep it functional, most importantly seating for students who come early or are waiting for their ride. We found the perfectly sized white sofa (because that room really is quite small!) and a $35 bench on the online classifieds.

It was actually an old church pew. But I loved the shape and the size. I was unsure if I was going to keep it natural or paint it, but after living with it a few months I finally decided to paint since it was pretty beaten up in some places. I also felt like the black piano, white sofa and brown bench just were not meshing. 

I have plenty of neutrals and blues in the house, so I wanted to be brave. Sometimes I'm bad at being brave. I turned to my entry-way rug for inspiration. I went for a medley of the orange and red, and I'm quite pleased with how it came out!

My amazing seamstress of a mother whipped up the cushion for me. I bought some foam at Jo-Ann's and wanted a neutral cushion to even out the in-your-face coral bench. :) The Ikat pillow is from this etsy seller.

My friend Laura was moving across the country so I bought that fun chevron-cushioned chair from her as my official "teacher's chair." I love it. The lamp, vase, and picture frame were from the new Threshold line at Target (is anyone else obsessed with that line?). 

This fun mirror was on clearance at Home Goods. Everyone needs a mirror right by the front door!

My mom also helped me make a pillow cover out of some leftover fabric from my roman shade in the kitchen.

I feel like the bench still needs a little something above it. Coat rack? Shelf? Frames? Not quite sure yet.

Even though the front room is not quite "done," it's come a long way. I think it's quite a cheery and welcoming entrance when you open the front door! Welcome all!

Falling Leaves

Let me first just say thank you for all the kind and supportive words on my last post. Like I mentioned, it's the love and support from people like you that Russ and I have found such comfort and strength from. 

And now for a completely random topic. I hate politics. There, I just said it. Don't get me wrong, I love this country and I love how we as citizens get to vote for our leaders. But I hate what politics does to people. This election in particular seems to have brought out the seriously nasty sides of people. I see things said on Facebook, blogs, and news articles that are quite appalling. All because of politics. Ok, before I rant much longer, the whole point of this post goes back to the debate last Thursday night between Joe Biden and Paul Ryan. I was so frustrated watching this debate I couldn't stand to sit in front of the TV and watch Joe Biden's creepy laugh one more time. 

So I made falling leaves out of a book.

A while ago I bought a book from the thrift store for $1 with the intention of using it for crafts. Who knew it would result in a political-debate-craft-making session. If you are needing a little more fall decor in your house and hate actually spending a lot of money on it (cause let's be honest, holiday decorations are expensive), bust these out. 

Here are my super complicated steps:

1) Trace 4-5 different leaves on a page from a book you don't care about. Your tracing doesn't need to be perfect. (I used this website to trace my leaves).

2) Cut -- again, doesn't have to be accurate. You can cut a bunch of leaves out at a time. None of this one-at-a-time business.

3) Sew the leaves together (I sewed about 10-12 leaves per strand, just to add variety in lengths).

4) Hang from the location you desire! Voila! Falling leaves. 

PS. If these look familiar to you, that's probably because they are. I made a very similar project a few Valentine's ago. Hey, why re-invent the wheel? :)

Everything Is OK

This is a phrase I've been reciting to myself for a few days now. It works, I promise. Sometimes in life I think we let a single isolated incident get the best of us. It bogs us down. We have blinders on and think the world is going to end if this incident is not solved to how we want it, and fast. 99% of the time life goes on, the problem will work itself out, you are not alone on an island, and really, everything is OK. 

This was a big week for Russ and I. As a lot of you out there know (assuming you are still out there, sometimes I doubt), we have been struggling with starting our family for almost 2 years now. I've mentioned this struggle only a few times on the blog. Sometimes I want to share more, but a lot of experiences and feelings are so personal and emotional I don't even know how to put it in words. But back to this week. We received the results from our third IUI (Intrauterine Insemination... aka Artificial Insemination) on Tuesday, and as you have probably assumed thus far, it was another disappointment. I cried. Hard. It was our last chance to get pregnant before moving on to the big, scary, intense IVF (In-Vitro Fertilization) process. Luckily, the next morning we had a consultation with our doctor, who to my great relief, addressed every. single. one. of our questions and concerns. We left feeling at peace with progressing with IVF. Perhaps it's the idea of not sitting still and actually doing something that brings me comfort. Or perhaps it's just that this really is what we are supposed to be doing. But either way, I know somehow that everything will be OK.

And with that, I just want to thank all those who have been a support and will continue to support us through this process. Infertility is a tough trial, but we couldn't get through it without you.

image via

Foggy River

Things that make me happy lately:

- Our river. Ok, it's not our river, but the view from our backyard this morning was breathtaking. I literally ran downstairs and grabbed my camera to capture that foggy river from our back patio. Fall mornings are the best, aren't they? The crisp, cool air is a welcome change from the hot summer we all experienced. It felt so good to just stop and take in a beautiful sight before the crazy hustle and bustle of a workday morning. 

- New music. Mumford & Sons, Babel, and Dave Matthews Band, Away From The World, are two newly released albums that have made me very, very happy. If you are wanting some new tunes, I highly recommend checking both of these out.

- Funny dreams. While I'm on the topic of the Dave Matthews Band, if any of you have known me for a while, you will know I'm a super-obsessed DMB fan. I'm talking SERIOUS fan-dom here. My mom has always said when you have Camille as a fan, she'll be your fan for life. Case in point, during the height of my DMB obsession, I used to have really random and funny dreams where Dave and I were best friends. He would invite me over to his house to hang out with his wife and kids, and I even babysat for him. Lucky me! I would always wake up feeling kind of like a crazy person. Well, I had another creepy fan dream last night. It must be the new album I've been listening to on repeat, but I was one of the 5 lucky fans who were selected to hang out with Dave at his house (which was also a Fieldstone Home, I must add... which is the same builder of our home, fyi). His wife, who worked at Costco, even had me take some grilled pineapple to Dave and the other fans because apparently "it's his favorite." Anyway, you can say it. I'm crazy.

- Our new maple trees. I'm loving the hint of fall colors we have in our yard.

- Lots and lots of family time. Family really is what it's all about, isn't it?

What's making you happy these days?